The plant can grow to a height of 12 meters (40 feet), but cultivated plants are pruned when they reach 6.5/9.5 ft to make harvesting easier

PLANT LIFE

20 - 30 years

ANNUAL YIELD PER PLANT

Approx. 900g (1.9 lb) of green coffee

FRUIT (SIMILAR TO A CHERRY)

It turns from green to red or yellow when fully ripe

Harvesting

Coffee ripening depends on the rains, so flowers, ripe and unripe berries can all be found at the same time on any one plant.

PICKING

Selective picking involves workers passing from plant to plant, hand-picking only the bright red ripe cherries, one by one. This method is expensive, but the quality of green coffee is excellent. It is the best method, but also the most labour-intensive and time consuming.

STRIPPING

The entire crop is harvested in one go. This can be done either by machine or by hand. In both cases, all of the cherries are stripped off of the branch in one go.

Roasting

Each coffee blend has its own roasting cycle which produces a roasted coffee with a special colour and a unique flavour.

TEMPERATURE

410 - 466 °F (210 - 230°C)

COOLING

Cold air or water

TIME

12-20 minutes

ROASTING METHOD

Contact (Hot air) convection

Green coffee loses moisture and its colour changes from green to yellow.

Chemical and physical changes in coffee, turning it from yellow to brown.